Mark 4 1665 Rolex ‘Double Red’ Sea-Dweller

The only way I can describe a Double Red Sea-Dweller is like a Single Red Sub that goes to 11. It’s just more of everything. Neither you nor I will ever have use for a helium escape valve. But this has something else because of it: an honesty. It’s serious about its job, in the way that a German airline pilot is. It’s reassuring, confidence inspiring, and, unlike German pilots, damn beautiful. Each year the new Rolex releases at Watches & Wonders just feel 5% more contrived. Do we need a gold Sea-Dweller? No. We need a brand that knows itself. We need whatever the Sea-Dweller equivalent of a home cooked meal is: probably 1665. Rolex is still riding on the waves of success that watches like this generated. And this is one of the more beautiful examples there’s been recently.

In 1665 dials, the very first were single reds. There are thought to be 11 or 12 of these, given to professional divers chosen by T. Walker Lloyd, an oceanographic consultant of Rolex, for testing or as awards following US Navy Sealab expeditions. SEALAB divers switched from Subs to Sea-Dwellers because the Sub’s crystals kept popping off on ascent. This was fixed through a very thick plexi crystal, thicker 39.5mm steel case, and helium escape valve which allowed helium to exit the case during decompression and prevents the plexi from popping. That HEV was pioneered in a series of Comex 5513/4 Subs and early Sea-Dwellers at about the same time. These early experiments gave rise to the official relationship Rolex developed with Comex in ’71 as leaders in their respectable fields. It also spawned this, the ref. 1665, the first commercial Rolex Sea-Dweller.

After those 12 ‘Single Reds’ was the DRSD, an early model with two coveted lines of red text in production from 1967-1977. After both came the ‘Great White’ 1665 with all white text. This Mark 4 is the final version before the ‘Great White’ came to power. Each dial has its quirks. Mark 2 tended to go tropical more than any other, but Marks 3 and 4 I see most often with a black dial and more tanned tritium. And, thanks to the crystal dome that this depth rating demanded, all have no cyclops. The best part, though, is that there is no gold 1665. The Sea-Dweller was serious, purposeful, but beautiful object. Something built to task by brilliant people, used often to the point of being borderline abused by those people, and never failing. It’s not rare, not platinum, not complicated, but the 1665 is some of the best of Rolex, full stop, for exactly those reasons. Yes, an object of luxury. But not by design.

This example is lovely on a couple fronts. First, just the level of originality down the crystal. That light crazing you see is on the crystal, which is original and often a tell of very old acrylic that’s been through many summers and winters. But the dial underneath is pumpkin and perfect. Its bezel is taking on the light purple tone we see some of these hit. And the case is really quite full overall. This is a lovely example of the breed. It comes from a well-regarded Spanish retailer.